Sample carrier feeder with subsequent article manipulating means



July 25, 1967 J. SAHORES ET AL SAMPLE CARRIER FEEDER WITH SUBSEQUENTARTICLE MANIPULATING MEANS Filed Sept. 10, 1964 qil/ u; N lNl/ENTORSJEAN 34/403355 firc uEs VANUXEM Jhc z/Es CAP/AUX ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 3,332,577 SAMPLE CARRIER FEEDER WITH SUBSEQUENT ARTICLEMANIPULATING MEANS Jean Sahores, Jacques Vanuxem, and Jacques Capiaux,

Pan, Basses-Pyrenees, France, assignors to Societe Anonyrne: SocieteNationale des Petroles dAquitaine, Paris, France Filed Sept. 10, 1964,Ser. No. 395,515 Claims priority, application France, Sept. 17, 1963,947,696 4 Claims. (Cl. 221-238) The present invention relates to anautomatic distributor or feeder, for sample carriers for X-raydiffractometers.

The distributor according to this invention is intended to assure theautomatic removal of a sample carrier at the end of its analysis in adiffractometer, the transfer of a sample carrier of a sample to beanalysed from a storage area to the dilfractometer and its centering andits gripping against the movable diifractometer stop, in such a way thatthe sample carrier follows the movements of said movable stop.

To this end, the distributor forming the subject of this invention ischaracterized in that it comprises, on the one hand, a supporting cradlefor the carriers of the samples to be analysed, this cradle beingmounted so as to be freely movable about an axis situated in the planeof the smooth surface of the sample, this axis being identical with theaxis of rotation of the movable diffractometer stop, and on the otherhand, automatic means for controlling the disengagement of the supportcradle from the diffractometer stop, the removal of the carrier of ananalysed sample and the leading of a new sample carrier unto the supportcradle.

According to one embodiment of the support cradle, it is constituted bya piece presenting a flat face designed to receive a carrier for asample to be analysed and a cylindrical face having a semi-circularcross-section mounted in a shell having a corresponding shape and inwhich the support cradle can freely pivot.

According to one embodiment of the means for disengaging the cradlesupport from the difi'ractometer stop, the cylindrical shell having asemi-circular cross-section is mounted so as to be able to pivot arounda pin carried by a shaft which is slidable in a vertical direction.

According to one embodiment of the automatic control means of thedistributor, these means are constituted by a mechanical assemblyassociated on the one hand, which a sliding shaft carrying the shell andthe support cradle and, on the other hand, with a storage area, ormagazine, containing the carriers of samples to be analysed and astorage area receiving the carriers of samples already analysed, thismechanical assembly comprising, in combination:

an arbor driven into rotation by a motor controlled by a pulsesignalling the end of the operation of said ditfractometer, this arborcarrying a cam and an excentric roller;

a first lever mounted in a pivoting manner around a fixed axis, one endof this lever being pivotally mounted on the sliding shaft and the otherend of this lever being subjected to the action of this cam inopposition to an elastic restraining element;

a second lever in which is arranged an oblong slot for housing theexcentric roller, this second lever being articulated at one of theseextremities, on a third lever pivotally mounted about a stationary axis,the other end of the second lever carrying a shoe slidably mounted alonga slide and pivoting between two limiting positions, one of thesepositions corresponding to a projection of the shoe beyond the slidesuch that 3,332,577 Patented July 25, 1967 "ice this projectionencounters an edge of a sample carrier contained in the magazine forcarriers of samples to be analysed in order to transfer it by the slideunto the support cradle and the other of these positions correspondingto a retracting of the shoe in order to return it to the rear; and

a fixed stop on which the semi-circular shell comes to hear at the timeof the descent of the sliding shaft which carries it, this stop beingdisposed in such a manner as to provoke the rocking of the shell againstan elastic restraining element and the resultant sliding of the carrierof the sample already analysed into a chute leading it to a receivingmagazine, the various movements of the mechanical assembly beingcombined to produce the following operations at the end of an analysis:the leading of the sample carrier into a horizontal position; then thelowering of the sliding shaft, the rocking of the shell and the ejectionof the carrier of the sample analysed; re-elevation of this slidingshaft; re-alignment and remounting of the shell to a level correspondingto that of the loading slide; driving, by the shoe, of a carrier of asample to be analysed to the support cradle; return of the shoe to itsrest position, the exposed face of the sample carrier then being incontact with the diifractometer stop and being centered thereon.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more readily understood from the followingdetailed description when taken together with the attached drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE 1 is an elevation view of the distributor, and

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the plane II-II of FIGURE1.

The figures show, in dotted lines, a diffractometer stop 1, the stopbeing movable around a horizontal axis 2 situated in the plane of theexposed surface of a sample to be analysed supported by a sample carrier3.

This sample carrier is placed on the flat face 4a of a support cradle 4,the cradle presenting a cylindrical face 4b having a semi-circularcross-section and resting through the intermediary of roller bearings 6,in a shell 5 having a complementary shape.

The axis of the half-cylinder of shell 5 is coaxial with the axis 2 whensupport cradle 4 presses sample carrier 3 against stop 1.

Shell 5 is pivotally mounted around the axis of a pin 7 carried on ashaft 8 disposed in such a manner as to slide in a longitudinaldirection in two slides 9a and 912. A spring 10 tends to maintain theshell 5 in the position shown in the drawings.

A lever 11 is pivotally mounted around a fixed axis 12; one end of thislever is articulated on shaft 8; its other end carries a roller 11a; anelastic element such as a spring (not shown) exerts a force on the lever11 in such a manner as to constantly urge shaft 8 upwardly.

A support 13 carrying sliders 9a and 9b as well as axis 12, also carriesan arbor 14 connected to a kinematic transmission (not shown) whichdrives it into rotation.

To arbor 14 is attached a cam 15 carrying an excentric roller 16, cam 15is continually in contact with follower 11a of lever 11 and its profileis shaped so as to provoke, during a complete revolution of arbor 14,the displacement movements of shaft 8 which will be described below.

Excentric roller 16 is maintained in a slot formed in a second lever 17articulated at one of its ends on a third lever 18 pivotally mounted forrotation about the axis of a pin 19 rigidly connected to support 13.

Lever 17 has its other end articulated on a shoe 20 mounted to slidealong a slide 21.

Above this slide is disposed a removable storage magazine 22 containingcarriers of samples to be analysed. The arrangement of the samplecarriers and the shoe are such that when the shoe moves in its forwardsense (to the right in FIGURE 1) along slide 21, it pushes against thelowest sample carrier and pushes it along the slide while, when the shoemoves in the reverse direction, it is retracted downwardly and passesfreely under magazine 22.

At another portion of the assembly a stop 23 is mounted either onsupport 13 or on slides 9a and 9b in such a way as to cause it tocontact shell when shaft 8 is ,driven downwardly, the purpose of thisoperation being explained below.

Finally, a chute 2 4 is rigidly mounted in an inclined .manner onsupport 13, the lower end of this chute being positioned above a secondmagazine 25 provided to receive the carriers of samples alreadyanalyzed.

The above described assembly operates in the following manner: when thediffractometer has finished carrying out an analysis a pulse signalingthe end of its operation initiates the rotation of arbor 14, for examplein the direction of arrow F, the distributor being shown in the drawingsto be in its rest, or retracted position.

Arbor 14, in turning, drives cam carrying roller 16; cam 15 is shaped soas to cause lever 11, when moved by the cam, to urge shaft 8 downwardly;during the progress of this displacement. Support cradle 4 separatesfrom stop 1, which permits it to return to a horizontal position due toits excentric center of gravity. When shaft 8 arrives at its lower dwellpoint, shell 5 encounters stop 23, which provokes a rocking of thelatter around the axis of its pin 7.

FIGURE 1 shows, in broken lines, the positions of cam 15, lever 11 andshell 5 when shaft 8 is at its lower dwell point.

Shell 5 is at that time tilted and the carrier of the analysed sampleslides out of support cradle 5 and through chute 24 until falling intomagazine 25.

As the rotation of arbor 14 continues, the cam 15 passes the positionindicated in broken lines; lever 11, urged by its elastic restrainingelements, pivots so as to move shaft 8 upwardly and shell 5 is separatedfrom stop 23 and returns to its normal position under the action ofspring 10. Shaft 8 continues to rise until the flat upper surface ofsupport cradle 4 is even with the upper face of slide 21.

During this time, the rotation of arbor 14 drives roller 16 so as toprovoke the pivoting of the assembly of levers 17 and 18; this pivotingserves to drive shoe 20 from its rest position, shown in solid lines, toits extreme forward position, shown in broken lines in FIGURE 1.

During the course of this movement, the end of shoe 20 projects aboveslider 21 and encounters the edge of the sample carrier located at thebottom of magazine 22; the sample carrier is extracted from the magazineand is pushed by the shoe on the slide until it slides into position onsupport cradle 4, the latter then being at the level of slide 21.

Then, when shoe 20 is retracted and returned to its rest position, shaft8 mounts further until the sample carrier is pressed against stop 1, atwhich time a new analysis can be performed and arbor 14 is stopped untilthe completion of this analysis.

During the analysis, support cradle 4 follows completely the rotation ofstop 1 around the common axis of rotation 2.

While one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shownand described in detail in this specification, it should be apparentthat many variations and modifications would occur to one skilled in theart without departing from the spirit of this invention and that itscoverage should therefore be limited only by the scope of the appendedclaims.

We claim:

1-. A distributor for sample carriers engageable with a diffractometerstop which is rotatable about a fixed axis,

comprising; a support cradle for carriers of samples to be analyzed,said cradle being mounted so as to be freely rotatable about an axissituated in the plane of a smooth 5 surface of the samples carried bysaid carriers, said cradle being movable in a direction normal to thefixed axis of the diffractometer stop and between a retracted positionspaced from the stop and a projected position with a sample carriermounted thereon pressed into engagement with the stop with the axis ofthe cradle disposed coaxial with the fixed axis of the dilfractometerstop, said cradle and a sample carrier mounted thereon being rotatablewith said diifraetometer stop about the coaxial axis of the cradle andstop when the sample carrier is pressed into engagement with the stop insaid direction normal to the fixed axis of said stop, and automaticmeans for sequentially positioning a sample carrier to be analyzed onsaid cradle while it is spaced from the stop, for moving said cradle tosaid projected position with the sample carrier mounted thereon pressedinto engagement with said stop for, rotation about the cradle axis, formoving said cradle and sample carrier mounted thereon to said retractedposition, and for removing said analyzed sample carrier from saidcradle.

2. A distributor as recited in claim 1 wherein said cradle comprises; apiece presenting a flat face for receiving said sample carriers and acylindrical face having a semi-circular cross-section; and wherein saiddistributor further comprises: a shell having a receiving surface havinga shape corresponding to said cylindrical face of said cradle, saidcradle being mounted in said shell with said cradle cylindrical facefacing said shell receiving surface so that said cradle can freely pivotin said shell, said cylindrical face and said corresponding receivingsurface being concentric with said axis of said cradle.

3. A distributor as recited in claim 2 further comprising: a shaftmounted so as to be slidable in a vertical direction; and a pin carriedby said shaft and supporting said shell so that the latter can pivotaround the axis of said pin, said pin extending in a horizontaldirection and being disposed at right angles to the axis of said cradle.

4. A distributor according to claim 3, wherein said automatic means areconstituted by a mechanical assembly associated with said shaft and witha first magazine holding carriers of samples to be analysed and with asec-0nd magazine for receiving carriers of samples already analysed,said mechanical assembly comprising:

an arbor rotatable through one revolution during each operation of saidautomatic means and carrying a cam having a roller mounted thereon andexcentric to the cam surface thereof;

a first lever pivotally mounted on a fixed axis, subject to the actionof an elastic restraining element, having one end pivotally connected tosaid shaft and having its other end connected to be subjected to theaction of said earn;

a second lever in which is arranged an oblong slot housing saidexcentric roller;

a third lever having one end pivotally mounted on a stationary axis andits other end pivotally connected to one end of said second lever;

a shoe slidably mounted in a slide and being pivotably connected to theother end of said second lever, said shoe having a projecting portionand being pivotable between two limiting positions, in one of which saidprojecting portion projects above said slide for engagement with asample carrier held in said first magazine for transferring it alongsaid slide and onto said cradle and in the other of which positions saidprojecting portion is retracted soas to be unable to engage carriersheld in said first magazine; and

a fixed stop against which said shell comes to bear when said shaftdescends and said cradle and shell are in the retracted position, saidfixed stop being so arranged as to cause said shell to rock around saidpin, in opposition to a restraining force, so as to References Citedcanse the carrier held in said cradle to slide into UNITED STATESPATENTS said second magazine;

whereby said mechanical assembly functions to lead 433,561 6/1891Claflm, 221*236 X said sample carrier into a horizontal position, lower5 981,892 1/1911 Spauldmg 221 270 X said shaft, rock said shell so as toeject the carrier 2678138 5/1954 Edwards 221-273 supported thereby,re-elevate said shaft, realign said 2185 0,850 9/1958 Davls 221*238 Xshell so that the flat face of said cradle is even With said slide,move, by means of said shoe, a new FOREIGN PATENTS sample onto saidcradle, return said shoe to its 10 12,349 6/ 1903 s ri projectedposition with the exposed face of said carrier then being in contactwith, and centered on, SAMUEL COLEMAN, Primary Examine)- said rotatablestop.

1. A DISTRIBUTOR FOR SAMPLE CARRIERS ENGAGEABLE WITH A DIFFRACTOMETERSTOP WHICH ROTATABLE ABOUT A FIXED AXIS, COMPRISING; A SUPPORT CRADDLEFOR CARRIERS OF SAMPLES TO BE ANALYZED, SAID CRADLE BEING MOUNTED SO ASTO BE FREELY ROTATABLE ABOUT AN AXIS SITUATED IN THE PLANE OF A SMOOTHSURFACE OF THE SAMPLES CARRIED BY SAID CARRIERS, SAID CRADLE BEINGMOVABLE IN A DIRECTION NORMAL TO THE FIXED AXIS OF THE DIFFRACTOMETERSTOP AND BETWEEN A RETRACTED POSITION SPACED FROM THE STOP AND APROJECTED POSITION WITH A SAMPLE CARRIER MOUNTED THEREON PRESSED INTOENGAGEMENT WITH THE STOP WITH THE AXIS OF THE CRADDLE DISPOSED COAXIALWITH THE FIXED AXIS OF THE DIFFRACTOMETER STOP, SAID CRADLE AND A SAMPLECARRIER MOUNTED THEREON BEING ROTATABLE WITH SAID DIFFRACTOMETER STOPABOUT THE COAXIAL AXIS OF THE CRADLE AND STOP WHEN THE SAMPLE CARRIER ISPRESSED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE STOP IN SAID DIRECTION NORMAL TO THEFIXED AXIS OF SAID STOP, AND AUTOMATIC MEANS FOR SEQUENTIALLYPOSITIONING A SAMPLE CARRIER TO BE ANALYZED ON SAID CRADLE WHILE IT ISSPACED FROM THE STOP, FOR MOVING SAID CRADLE TO SAID PROJECTED POSITIONWITH THE SAMPLE CARRIER MOUNTED THEREON PRESSED INTO ENGAGEMENT WITHSAID STOP FOR ROTATION ABOUT THE CRADLE AXIS, FOR MOVING SAID CRADLE ANDSAMPLE CARRIER MOUNTED THEREON TO SAID RETRACTED POSITION, AND FORREMOVING SAID ANALYZED SAMPLE CARRIER FROM SAID CRADLE.